Please Come Home
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: Karai said that he wouldn't return, but Ice Cream Kitty continued to hold onto the hope that her Master would indeed return. Part of the "Mourning" storyline.


**So it snowed where I'm at and I got the day off work! So I decided to write this fic on my free time.**

 **I wrote this while listening to the song "Soon You'll Come Home" from the movie All Dogs Go To Heaven.**

When the door to the freezer opened, she expected the kind, smiling face of her beloved Master. Instead a strange girl with short black hair looked at her sympathetically with tears in her brown eyes.

"Hi, Ice Cream Kitty," she said with a sad smile. "I'm Karai."

The cat mewed and tilted her head in confusion. _Where's Master?_

The girl stroked the top of her pink head and then moved to her chin, causing her to purr in contentment. _This person is nice. I like her._

Karai let out a shaky sigh. "I don't know if you can understand me. But...Kitty, your master's not coming back. Ever."

Unfortunately, ICK did, in fact, understand. "Meow?" _Not coming back?_

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "But I promise to take care of you. Okay?"

No, she refused to believe that Master was gone forever. She stretched her neck out and looked around the kitchen, mewing loudly as she called for him.

"Kitty," Karai softly said. "Kitty, I'm sorry, but he won't answer. He's..." She paused to control her tears and took a deep breath. "He's gone."

ICK wouldn't listen to her and continued to mew. It absolutely broke Karai's heart.

* * *

The next morning, she was once again greeted by Karai, who took her out of the freezer and put her in a large bowl on the table. At one end of the table, Splinter sat with his head bowed and his ears back. His brown eyes were puffy as if he'd been crying, and ICK didn't like seeing him so crestfallen. Luckily, she managed to swipe a cheese popsicle on the way out and held it out to him. "Meow?"

Splinter only continued to look down at the table.

"Meow?" she tried to get his attention, but he never looked up or said a word. Karai was touched by how kind and thoughtful ICK was. _Just like Mikey_ , she thought to herself. She placed a bowl of ramen in front of Splinter and kissed his cheek before gently patting ICK on the head.

The cat then noticed that none of the Turtles were present, and most importantly, her Master wasn't cooking in the kitchen, humming his usual happy song.

 _Where is everyone? Where's Master? Why is everything so quiet and sad around here? When will Master come home?_

So many questions roamed through her mind, and the poor thing started to get scared and confused.

The rest of the day was gloomy and somber. She was left all alone in the dark kitchen. Of course, Karai would stop by every now and then to talk to her, but it just wasn't the same.

Later that night, Karai brought Chompy into the kitchen and sat him on the table next to ICK. He looked just as sad and lonely, and ICK knew that he missed his master, too. Even the though the two had an antagonistic relationship and he had a tendency to melt her with his hot breath, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She reached over and gently touched the top of his head, giving him a comforting mew. Chompy whimpered in response and cuddled next the bowl she sat in.

But she continued to hold onto the hope that her Master would come home, and then everything would be all right again.

* * *

That night she dreamed that Master opened the freezer and greeted her with a smile and a lick. He held her in his arms as she cuddled into his plastron. He whispered that he loved her and would never leave her again...

The light from the kitchen woke her as the freezer door opened. But it was Karai again. "Good morning, Kitty," she said as she placed her on the table. But Splinter wasn't present this time. Smoke continued to rise from out of the untouched ramen. "I'll be right back," she told ICK and walked out of the kitchen. The cat was left alone once again.

A minute later, she heard Karai scream in the dojo, "FATHER! NO!"

ICK mewed nervously. _What now?_

Soon afterwards, Karai returned with a knife in her hand and put it in the sink. She was breathing heavily with tears in her eyes. ICK looked at her with concern and mewed at her. Karai turned her head and quickly dried her eyes.

"Oh, s-sorry, Kitty," she smiled weakly as she approached the table. "It-it's okay. Everything is...is..." The tears streamed down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed softly.

 _Oh, Master. When will you come home?_

* * *

She kept thinking about her Master. Her wonderful Master who loved her with all his heart from day one.

Before she mutated, she was a lonely, dirty stray cat that was slowly dying of starvation. The humans that passed by her on the streets would look at her with disgust and even kick her aside. In their eyes, she wasn't a living creature, but garbage. She was certain that she'd die all alone and would never experience love.

But all that changed when April brought her to lair and introduced her to Master. He instantly fell in love with the cat and begged the others to let him keep her. From that day forward, he showered her with affection and made her feel like she mattered in this world. He had given her what millions of other stray animals in New York had yearned for: a family. He was her whole world.

And she wouldn't give up on him. No matter what.

With all the strength she possessed, she pushed the freezer door open and jumped out, landing on the floor with a splat. Slowly, she crawled out of the kitchen and into the living room, leaving a trail of pink, white and brown liquid behind. Eventually, she reached the dark and cold tunnels...

* * *

Chompy woke up in Karai's arms and yawned, crawling out of her grasp and jumping off the bed. He wobbled into the kitchen for a drink of water. But just as he was about to reach the bowl, he noticed the trail that ICK had left behind. Whimpering in concern, he followed it until he got to the tunnels.

Worried about his dessert feline friend, he hurried back to Karai's bedroom and tried to wake her up with his urgent shrills.

* * *

Melting is actually a lot more painful than it looks.

For someone made of pure ice cream like ICK, melting could be compared to dying from acid poisoning: your insides burn and your body slows down. But despite the unbearable pain she was feeling, ICK continued her journey to find her Master.

He was worth it.

It had been only fifteen minutes since she left the lair and ICK could already feel her strength leaving her body.

 _No! I won't give up until I find Master!_

She could no longer move her arms.

 _Master!_

She couldn't move at all.

 _MASTER!_

Her body had now become a colorful puddle, and the only part of her that remained solid was her head.

She was quickly fading away.

She closed her weary eyes and let out one last weak mew.

 _Master..._

"Ice Cream Kitty?"

Her frail ears perked up at the sound of that familiar voice. She opened her eyes and her vision was blurry, but she could make out a figure standing over her. She felt the stranger gently touch her head and her vision instantly became clear.

"Hey, Kitty. Sorry I'm late."

Her beloved Master was looking down at her with his beautiful sky blue eyes and smiling brightly at her.

He was home at last!

ICK felt her strength returning and her body becoming solid once again. She reached her noodle arms out to him, mewing happily. _You came home! You came home!_

Mikey chuckled and picked up her up, snuggling her close to his plastron. "I missed you, too, girl. Let's go home. I really want to introduce you to Tang Shen. I just know that she'll love you."

She purred loudly in his arms as he carried her away to the end of the tunnel. A warm, bright light welcomed the two...

* * *

"ICE CREAM KITTY?!"

Karai was shocked to find the freezer left open and trails of melted ice cream all over the floor. Her heart pounded with fear as she followed the trail to the tunnels.

 _Oh, please, please don't let it be too late,_ she begged in her mind as she ran.

The trail eventually came to end as she approached a small pool of melted ice cream. Her heart broke in half and she fell to her knees, weeping for the fallen mutant cat.

 **If you have been following my story "Mourning," then you'd know why Karai had a knife in her hand earlier...**


End file.
